Word: verbs
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...several years now, D. David Bourland Jr. has conscientiously scrubbed from his discourse and his writing all forms of the verb "to be." The first time he tried to do this, it gave him a headache. Now the practice comes so naturally that Bourland's listeners and readers are not likely to notice the omission. On the contrary, they are likely to be struck by the lucidity of his expression, which is commendably unambiguous if not always very lyrical. Where most people might render harsh judgment on themselves with "I'm no good at math," Bourland would express...
...endeavored to explain the name of my great compatriot. Erasmus' name in fact was Geert Geertsz (Gerard, son of Gerard) and as the humanists liked to translate their names into Latin (and/or Greek), Erasmus used the fact that "Geert" in his time was a form of a verb which meant "to desire," "to long for" (Latin: desidero). You know, of course, that Melanchthon wrote an epitaph for Erasmus: "Eras mus omnia rodere solitus [You were a mouse that always gnawed at everything...
WHEN used honestly, "to liberate" is a reflexive verb...
...suburban courtroom just north of Detroit last week, a high school teacher named Nancy Timbrook clutched a shredded Kleenex as she defended her actions before a judge. She admitted that she had, as charged, written a four-letter variant of the verb "to copulate" on her classroom blackboard...
...incident took place last month after Patrick Eady, 32, a social-studies teacher at Lamphere, invited two college-age youths who are mem bers of a local left-wing group called the White Panthers to address his students. Their talk was freely sprinkled with the provocative verb (or noun, or adjective, depending on how it is used...